Suturing forceps



1954 F. A. L'ESPERANCE 2,665,692

SUTURING FORCEPS Filed Dec. 10, 1951 INVENTOR FRANCIS A. L'ESPERANOE Patented Jan. 12, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SUTURING FORCEPS Francis A. LEsperance, Northampton, Mass.

Application December 10, 1951, Serial No. 260,819

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to surgical instruments and more particularly to a suturing forceps.

As is well known in the art, sutures used for closing incisions in the skin and other body tissues are normally applied by grasping the tissues to be joined together with a simple forceps and the suture drawn through the tissue with a needle after piercing the flesh on opposite sides of the incision. The tissue is grasped with simple forceps to close the incision and to raise the tissue slightly and the needle inserted to one side of the point picked up by the forceps. When the stitching is done in close quarters, piercing of the needle to the side of the forceps bite causes the tissue to bend and the suture to be placed at an angle. Furthermore, the needle may not pierce straight through the tissue but may skew to one side thereby damaging a structure which is not meant to be sutured.

Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to overcome the foregoing disad vantages of prior art suturing forceps and methods.

A more specific object of this invention is the production of an efiicient forceps which will enable the average surgeon to more quickly and efficiently suture an incision.

A still further object of the invention is the production of a simple and dependable forceps which will grasp tissue to be sutured in a dependable way to locate accurately the spot to be sutured and to serve as a guide for the suturing needle.

These and other objects will be apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the forceps constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of the internal face of one of the jaws of the forceps;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary side view of the jaws of the forceps;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged end view of the jaws of the forceps; and

Fig. 5 illustrates the manner in which the forceps of the present invention is utilized in making a suture.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1, in which the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated, the forceps comprises a pair of elongated arms [0 and H joined together at one end l2, as by welding, and.

having cooperating jaws l3 and [4 formed on the opposite ends thereof. The forceps are preferably constructed of thin strips of stainless steel of generally rectangular cross section and formed to have a long, narrow contour as shown in Fig. 1. The arms are knurled on the outer surface, thereof, at I5, to facilitate gripping of the instrument. The jaws l3 and I4 formed on the unsecured ends of the arms are of generally C-shape with the throat of the opening lying along the longitudinal axis of the arms. The mutuallly directed inner faces of the two arms are provided with serrations IS, the construction and arrangement of which will be more apparent from an examination of Figs. 2 and 3.

Referring to Fig. 2, which illustrates the inner face of one of the jaws, the lower end of the arm ll] widens to form a jaw having a generally circular outer contour, the central portion of which is removed to form bifurcated fingers in the shape of a C. The jaws are slightly thicker than the arm on which it is formed (see Fig. 3), the region of increased thickness being in the form of a generally annular boss as shown in Fig. 2. The mutually directed inner faces of the jaws are formed with matching serrations ex tending across the aforementioned boss in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the arms The surface of the jaws opposite the serrations are smoothly curved toward the tip of the instrument, as shown in Fig. 4, whereby the forceps may be used in close quarters without damaging surrounding tissue structure.

As was previously stated, the forceps are preferably constructed of stainless steel, the preferred size for general use being approximately eight inches long and having arms of approximately one-half inch width. The outer diameter of the jaws is approximately one-quarter inch, with the nominal diameter of the opening being approximately one-eighth inch with a. one-sixteenth inch opening at the throat. Inasmuch as forceps of different sizes and shapes may be necessary, depending upon the site and type of suture to be used, and whether the stitching is to be done internally or externally, the suggested dimensions should not be construed in alimiting sense, but merely as description of a general purpose forceps.

In use, the forceps is held in the left hand (assuming that the surgeon normally stitches with his right hand) and the tissue at opposite sides of the incision grasped with the two jaws of the forceps as shown in Fig. 5. The incision is closed by squeezing the forceps together, and by lifting the forceps slightly, 9. specific point for passage of the needle 20 is provided by the opening in the jaws. the forceps, the surgeon passes the needle 20 and suture 2| through the openings in jaws I3 and H with his right hand, and then removes the forceps, the opening in the jaws permitting the removal thereof without interference from the suture. Thereafter the suture may be knotted, or cut, or whatever subsequent operation is called for. It is thus seen that the needle passes through the exact spot selected by the forceps and must pass straight through the tissue since the jaws prevent insertion of the needle at an angle. As indicated in Fig. 4, the forceps is posi-..

tioned with the opening slightly below the edges of the wound thus preventing the needle from pulling out as it is being placed through the tissue. This allows suturing close to the ap proximating edges of the wound without fear of the needle cutting through and the suture pulling out.

In addition to the advantage of insuring bet,- ter suturing, the use of the present forceps has the further advantage of reducing by a factor of two the trauma to the tissue surrounding the incision. When using conventional forceps, the suture bite causes trauma, as does the needle which passes through the tissue to the side of the forceps. With the present forceps, the trauma from the forceps bite is very small and is the only one which results since the needle puncture goes through the same area as that of the forceps bite.

In summary, the present invention provides a simple and dependable forceps for use in surgery which allows better suturing than that afforded by forceps heretofore used, as well as reducing the trauma which normally accompanies the suturing process.

Although a particular embodiment of my in vention has been illustrated and described, it will of course be understood that it is not limited thereto since various modifications can be made, and it is contemplated by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A suturing forceps comprising, a pair of elongated parallel arms secured together at one end thereof, each of said arms being formed at the opposite end with generally annular jaws having an opening lying along the longitudinal axis of said arms, said jaws being formed with a plurality of matching serrations on mutually directed faces and extending thereacross.

2. A suturing forceps comprising a pair of With the spot thus selected by similar elongated arms secured together at one end and disposed parallel to each other, each of said arms being widened at the unsecured end to form a boss thicker than said arms and having a generally circularly contour, the central portion of said boss being removed to produce a generally C-shaped jaw having its opening lying along the longitudinal axis of the arm, the mutually directed inner face of each jaw being provided with a plurality of serrations extending across said boss in a direction perpendicular to the aforesaid longitudinal axis, whereby the tissue surrounding the exact spot to be penetrated by the suture is held firmly and the needle is guided to pass substantially perpendicularly through the tissue.

4. A suturing forceps comprising, a pair of similar thin, elongated arms having a rectangular cross-section, said arms being secured to.- gether at one end and disposed parallel to each other, each of said arms being widened at the unsecured end to form a boss of greater thickness than said arms and having a generally circularly outer contour, the central portion of said boss being removed to produce a generally C- shaped jaw having an opening at the outermost end lying along the longitudinal axis of the arm, the mutually directed inner faces of the jaws being provided with a plurality of matching nonpenetrating serrations extending across said boss in a direction perpendicular to the aforesaid longitudinal axis, whereby the tissue surrounding the exact spot to be penetrated by the suture is held firmly and the needle is guided to pass substantially perpendicularly through the tissue.

FRANCIS A. LESPERANCE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 574,476 Coy Jan. 5, 189.7 669,034 Manly .V Feb. 26, 1901 776,555 Sittle Dec. 6, 1904 1,033,942 Ruggles July 30, 1912 2,504,202 Kadavy Apr. 18, 1950. 

